Monday, May 7, 2018

If you haven't heard of Beat Saber before, then you're not alone—I only caught wind of it earlier today. But this Early Access VR rhythm game, which is basically a lightsaber version of Guitar Hero, is now the highest rated game on Steam. It's clocked nearly 2,000 reviews with a 99% positive rating, which is enough to put it above everything except the Witcher 3's DLC expansion pass. It's going to change a lot before it leaves Early Access later this year, starting with a major update next week that will let players create custom levels set to their own audio files.
The current version is essentially an arcade mode with a limited number of songs, but it's still got players hooked. The premise is simple: you slash at coloured cubes as they come towards you to the beat, and each one will only be smashed if you hit it from a particular angle. If you want more on the game itself, then Jack interviewed the creator here.
The level editor will be the same one that the development team at Hyperbolic Magnetism used to create the existing levels, and players will be able to export their own creations and then send them to people they know. It won't have "simple sharing"—which I presume just means you can't upload your tracks for the community to try out—but I'm sure people will start disseminating their own designs via Reddit or forums.
The main Beat Saber Twitter account today tweeted that we'd find out more information on Friday, but then the game's creator said that it might be ready before that.

 Soon we will release alfa version of Level Editor. You will be able to create your own levels for your audio files. Since this is really an alpha version, no simple sharing will be available. We will share more info on Friday. #StayTuned pic.twitter.com/pqaH04MbOtMay 6, 2018

You can pick up Beat Saber for $19.99/£15.49 on Steam or the Oculus store.
Once again, Jack's piece is a good place to start if you want to find out more about the game. Watch a short gameplay clip below, and thanks to Road to VR for flagging the Steam rating.